Box, closure, and fastener



J. R, BITTER.

80X, CLOSURE, m) FASTENER. APPLICATION FILED IAN. 5. 1920.

Patented Apr. 25, 1922.

aosEPH-n. BITTER, or HASTINGS, FLORIDA,

ASSIGNOR To BITTER saris-FASTENING] undr- I FYLQRIDA.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known thatl, JosEPI-I R.,Rirrnn, a ritiz en of the United States, residing at ;Hastings, in the county of St. Johns, State of Florida, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Boxes, Closures, .and Fasteners; and I do hereby declare the following to' be a full, clear, and exactdevscription. of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

' This invention relates to receptacles of the knock-downtype, as well as to the closures thereof and the means for fastening .such closures in place and the primary object of the invention is to produce a boizor crate ofthis kind which can be made and assembled very cheaply because its wallsare exact duplicates of each other the box be a cube or are in two pairs or at most in three pairs if the box be of other shapes, 'and in any casethe cover is made by bisect- 'ingone wall.

' Q'-\nother object is to produce a boxof this kind whose walls interengage without e1n- "ploying any extraneous fastening means, and whosecoyer when applied prevents the walls from becoming disengaged and is itself fastened very simply.

"Another object of the inventionis to pro duce a box of this character wherein each wall is'made up of a light body as of veneer 'orpaper board (preferably slatted, and the slats-spaced the device isto be a ventilated crate) andbeads or battens across two edges of the body (or the ends oftheslats) on the outer face {along the corners of the box when Setup Specification of Letters Patent.

able tension, thereby obviating the set' up and with its which iss'quare in one plane a line at right angles to the these battens standing plained. Usually H these receptacles cheap, and-if they be crates they are ventiglated as byibeing made of spaced slats.

While I do not desire to be limited with re-. o. 1

v be of wood and also. the reenforcing bars," and the fillers of metal 01; other material, suchgas veneer or paper board "tacked or.

BOX, CLOSURE, {XND FASTENER.

-vide a resilient member underlying thelockingbarand overlying the cover so as to hold the latterxin place under some considernecessity a Ior nails, screws,lor the like; 7

One successful means for carrying out the invention is set forth below, and shown in the drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of thisbox. cover n place i and fastened,

Figure 2 isa transverse section t'hrough the same-on the line 22 of Figure v Figure 3 isaperspective view of the upper portionof the box with one halfof the cover "absent and'the'other half being-put in place. I

Figure 4 is a-perspective View .ofgo'ne wall. I r v By the term wall. as hereinused I refer to one of the sides or the bottom or the top.

.of a receptacle such as a boxer erate.=Usu

ally there are six such walls, the lowermost being known as the bottom and the upper- Patented Apr. 25, 1922. Application filed January 5,1920. Serial No. 349,379. I

most which. is generally removable being known as the cover or closure, while the re-,

jniainder would then be side walls.- It the vbo x is an exact cube, the walls will be iden- If it be a boxf tical in sizejand construction,

and'long'er on plane than any side ofthe sq'uare, then there will be four walls alikein size and thejremainin'g'two like each other;in size, but all six will be of the same construction. If the ,box be longer one way than the otherand also quitegflat, therewill be three pairs of walls whereof are alike in construction. 'The onlydifi'er-- ence between the cover-and any other wall is'that itmust'bebieected as' will be exare spect to materials, the beads or battens may otherwise secured across the inner faces of the otherparts. This fillermay bein strips those in veach pair are alike in size but all preferably at their midlength, so that they are divided or made sectional, and of course no reenforcingbar of the cover is tacked to the filler. It will be obvious that the machinery of a mill can be so set as to produce box walls of this kind in great numbers and in standard sizes; and, as the process of interlocking them later is a simple one, cheap labor can be employed so that-the total cost of production is minimized. Or,-a shipment of walls flattened out and packed very closely could be made, leaving the purchaser to set up the boxes as he needs them for use. Finally, after a box has made its outgoing trip, the consignee removes the contents and knocks down or collapses the box so that it can be returned in small space for reuse.

. Referring first to Figure 4, the wall herein shown is made up of two slats 1 slightly spaced at their adjacentinnei' edges as at 2, and held in proper relative position by means of two heads 3 secured across their enos on their outer faces. These beads .may be formed in any appropriate mannerand of any proper materiahand they may well be wooden strips or battens to which the slats are tacked from the inner side. The ends of the beads project at 4 beyond the side edges .5 of the two parts or slats of the Wall here shown. Secured also across their outer faces and at about their midlength is a reenforcing bar 6, its ends 7 in this instance projecting as do the ends 4 of the beads. Insetting up a box whose walls are so made, the four sides arestood on edge, two of them with the slats upright and the other two with the slats horizontal, and the projecting ends 4 of the beads are ntercngaged with each other in the manner best seen in Figure 1. This holds the sides to each other, and the interengagement of the projecting ends of the beads on the bottom wall as shown at 4: also holds this in place. lifiani festly the top "could not now be inserted and its projecting ends interengaged the same way. if it were in one rigid piece, and therefore its beads or battensare divided where desired, preferably :bisected as. indicated at 8, on ,a line opposite the space between its slats.

Figure 3 illustrates the manner ofapplying the cover or closure to the horse set up. in this view one section is shown as just being put in place, having been moved in thedirection of the arrow until the projectingends l. of its head sections 3" have passed under the projectingends dot the head 3 on the left wall The contact of the outer edge 5 of its slat l with the inner faces of the'slats said left wall will limit the fmovenientof this section of the cover to the left, and then its inner edge is borne down until its slat strikes the upper edge of the uppermost slat 1 of the wall in the foreground and the corresponding slat 1, of

ward, while its beads engage those of the end walls and prevent them from falling outward. The upper projecting ends 7:05: the reenforcing bars 6 on the endwalls will liebehind the abutting ends of the sectional beads on the cover. V

The cover fastener is by preference in two members. I v bar 6 of the cover itself, which bar willhave its ends rabbeted as indicatedat 6 in igure2. Thisbar inaybe'laid across the midlength of the cover-on the outer faces of.

its slats, and its rabbeted.endsengagein the openings 2 between the slats of the side walls, under their uppermost beads. But TI One of these is the reenforcing prefer also to use another member which as shown in Figures 1 and 2 is a strip 9 of yeneer or some other flexible and considerably resilient material. This strip underlies the first member or barv 6, with its ends over lying the abutting ends of the bead sections.

When this strip is employed, is applied first and obviously its center will not then be depressed into' contact with the slats of the cover. The fastening element or ,bar 6" is "applied laterQits center depressing the 7 center of the strip until it contacts'with "the slats of the cover, and thereby causing the ends of the strip to bear down with considerable tension on the inner portions of the bisected beads of said cover to hold latter firmly in place; andthe rabbetsattheends of the fastening bar prevent its dislodgment while the resiliency of the strip holds this bar normally in, such position as to retain the rabbets. in their engagement with. the beads of the side walls. Obviously the fastening member 9 could be replacedflby some otheren pansive or resilient ele nent,.or

the fastening member .GCOlllClllQ modified in structure or it might be used without vthe strip 9. Also if the sides be solidinstead of slatted as shown, they may be provided' with openings'near their upper edges in place of the spaces 2, or some other means for fastening the ends of the bar .6 to the side walls maybe employed- Thejstrip ex-' 7 1 tends longitudinally of the cover and overlies its'space .2 so as to practically close the same, and therefore this'niember may be'cm' ventilated; Figure 2 shows the fastening bar so rabbeted that when inserted over the strip 9 the-latter springs the inner portions ployed where the walls are solid or are not of the slats 1 downward, and the structure is such that the cover fastener will hardly become dislodged even'if the device be subjected to rough usage. 7

I have spoken of the bar 6 and illustrated but one such bar across each side and across the cover, but if any element or elements of this box are of such size that it is thought desirable to usemore than one such bar, it may obviously be done without departing from the spirit of the invention. 'Also I have shown and described the sides and the cover as made up of but two strips or slats, and here again the size of any element may be such that the filler should be in more than two pieces, although they will be spaced from, each other at their iner edges if venti-' lation is desired; and each. of such spaces may be covered with a strip such asthat numbered 9 herein.

What is claimed as new is:

1.. A box closure comprising a cover made up of two abutting sections whose outer edges are adapted to engage inside two opposite walls of the box and whose ends are adapted to overlie the other walls thereof, and a fastening element crossing the sections and adapted to engage the first named walls.

2. A box closure comprising a cover made up of parts whose outer edges are adapted to engage inside two opposite walls of the box and whose ends are adapted to overlie other walls thereof, and depending beads across the ends of said parts adapted to contact on the outer sides of the other two opposite walls; combined with fastening means overlying the cover and adapted to engage the first mentionedrtwo opposite walls of the box. V r

3. A box closure comprising a cover made up of sections whose outer edges are adapted to engage opposite walls of the box and Whose ends are adapted to engage other walls thereof, a strip overlying and lapping the inner edges of said sections, and a fastent ed to lie inside two opposite walls of the box '65 7 ing element crossing the strip and adapted to engage the first named walls.

, 4. A box closure comprising a cover made up of parts whose outer edges are adapted to engage opposite walls of the box and whose ends are adapted to'engage other walls thereof, and beadsacross both'ends of each part; combined with a strip overlying the inner edges of'said' parts and the inner ends of their beads, and a fastening element crossing the strip and adapted to engage the first named walls. I

5. A box closure comprising a cover made upof two parts whose outer edges are adaptand whose ends are adapted to overlie two other walls thereof, and beads across both ends ofi'each part; co1nbined with :a strip overlying theinner edges-of said parts and the abutting ends of' their beads,and afastening bar overlying ithestrip and adapted to be engaged at its said walls. c 6. A box closure comprising a cover made up of parts whose inner edges are adjacent and whose outer edges are adapted to stand in contact with opposite walls of the box,

and beadsat the ends of .each'part onai ts outer face; combined witharesilient' strip overlying said adjacent edges and-beads, and a fastening" bar! crossing" the strip and adapted to be-engaged WlthSfllCl walls at points-to spring thestrip intofcontact with said parts.

ends with" the two of '7.-The "combination aiboxwhaving ends enbar separable from the cover and extending across the cover and having rabbeted ends entering sa1d openings and extending outward past said first mentioned side walls.

9. The: combinationv with a box having I openings in two opposite side Walls near their upperedges; of a two part cover disposed between said walls and over the remaining side walls, a strip overlying the adjacent edges of the parts of said-cover, and a fasengaging said, openings.

10. The combination with a box having openings in two opposite side walls near their upper edges; of a sectionalcoveridisposed between said. walls and over the remaining side walls, a bar crossing the cover and having, its ends removably engaging toning: bar crossing thestrip and cover and i said openings, and a resilient element [between the bar and cover for holding its parts i in place; 1 l1. The-combination with a box whereof each wall is'composed of slats spaced at their adjacent edgesand transverse beads,

across the ends of the slats on their outer faces, one wall constituting ai'cover and its beads being formed in abutting sections, the 'outer edges of the cover slats abutting'the side walls of the box and their ends overlying the end walls of the ing the abutting sections of said beads ;0f a strip whose ends overlie said beadsiwhere they abut, and a fastening element crossing box and underly;

said strip with its ends extending between the slats of said side walls and engaged beneath their beads. Y 1 V Y 12. A'knock-down box'niade up of walls whereof each has beads along two opposite edges projecting at both ends beyond the remaining edges, the projecting portion of each bead ,d'rectly. contacting with the projecting portions of beads on. two other walls atiar-cornerof the box, one wall constituting thecover and being made in sections; combined with fastening means overlying the cover and adapted to engage other ,walls of the vbox. V

13. A knockdown receptacle made up' of six walls,4each having its side edges abutting .two walls and its ends extending over two other walls, and battens across the outer faces of said ends and projectingbeyond said edges, the projecting portionof each batten engaging two other battens at a. cornor of the receptacle, one wall constituting the cover and being bisected and its battens formed in abutting sections co1nbined with fastening means for holdingthe sections of each batten alined and the coverin place.

1 L. A knock-down box made up of similar walls, each composed of slats having their JOSEPH n. arr rna' Witnesses:

R. M. BURT, DALE HICKS. 

